Thanks for the explanation.

Alex A: If it’s concerning a specific product, it’s usually best to go directly to the developer. I’ve heard varying reports on dealing with the MU guys but for me, probably because I’m a developer, I get timely responses.

Jason: I’m not sure what you mean by registration requests. I don’t have any sort of on-line activation and a license is generated immediately when a bundle is purchased so there’s no separate request in that sense. In any case, I have no way to gauge how many people are using/have registered the product beyond those asking for help. Is that what you are asking?

I bought a license a while back, figuring it would never come up alone (or I missed it) on MacZot or MU. I set up Hazel – then forgot about it, because it does what I ask and with few hiccups. I might have purchased the MUBundle in part for an additional Hazel license, but felt the rest of the apps including Parallels (I junked it for VMWare) were not useful or I previously had licenses.

Your article was a great read for me – I previously had no real concept of pros/cons of bundling or discounting from the developers standpoint. I’m a bit embarrassed for being callous towards small developers, trying to get the best price on their apps. However, I also am more likely to purchase an app at its full price if I get a sense the developer is earnest and responsive to questions. You won me over with a quick, but informative email on sorting contents of nested folders, for example. I dunno if I’m a typical customer, but that’s one way I judge the merit of a software product from a small developer.

Keep up the good work!

-Curt

PS: And I’ll gladly pay for an updated Hazel if required.

I find all the writing on these bundles fascinating. It’s like a behind-the-scenes exposé.

I’m not sure if you addressed this (or want to), but I’m unclear one thing: what’s the number of license/registration requests compared to the total bundles sold? You mentioned downloads, but not registrations.

Jason.

As an owner of Parallels – and I wonder which “power” Mac user isn’t already? – the Macupdate bundle was uninteresting to me.

I’m still to get the most out of Hazel, because even as a power user I find it very difficult to see what the actions of my filters are going to be, before it actually applies them and – more often than not – jumbles up my files. I think I’ll post in your forum about my issues.

Seems like an app full of possibilities, though. Best of luck with it.

All the best to the indie dev’s!

I had to e-mail the developer, who was so helpful that I decided to keep the software, despite the fact that even he could not get a response from MU. Any thoughts on those you dealt with? Did I just have bad luck?